A viral video showing carts of food and drinks being thrown away outside a Kroger after a storm-related power outage has sparked a heated debate online.
For some viewers, the footage looked like a painful example of corporate waste at a time when grocery prices are already straining household budgets.
For others, it looked like a harsh but familiar consequence of food-safety rules that can leave stores with little flexibility after an outage, the Daily Dot reported.
Here's what to know
X user Suzee Q (@SusieM414141) posted a video of the Kroger's stock.
Which side of this story are you on?
— Suzee Q (@SusieM414141) August 13, 2026
A Kroger went through a power outage from a storm. Now they are throwing away a large amount of food and drinks. The hauler is there teady to take it away as soon as they're done so people don't dumpster dive. Do you believe they should… pic.twitter.com/y63KFlY9VL
"A Kroger went through a power outage from a storm. Now they are throwing away a large amount of food and drinks," she wrote.
The same post said a hauler was already on site, which the creator suggested meant people would not be permitted to dumpster dive.
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Soon, the conversation expanded into a dispute over whether at least part of the discarded stock should have gone to employees or families in need rather than the trash.
A different group of commenters focused on the constraints stores face after losing power.
If refrigerated items remain outside the safe temperature range for too long, a retailer may no longer consider them safe to consume, they argued.
"Refrigerated items cannot be given to shelters or given access by throwing it in a dumpster. If someone gets sick or dies because of it the company is liable. It's the sad truth in today's sue crazy country," one commenter confidently claimed.
But some viewers questioned whether that explanation covered every product visible in the video, noting that the carts also appeared to hold some shelf-stable items.
"Some drinks that are refrigerated aren't perishable, they should donate those!" another wrote.
More background
The Daily Dot, citing a Yahoo Creators report, said donation can be more complicated than disposal because items have to be sorted, inspected, and stored correctly.
After a power outage, that work can get even harder while employees try to determine what remained safe and what did not.
So even if some of the goods were nonperishable, that would not automatically make them easy to save.
Safely and reliably singling out those items can still require staff time, resources, and clear procedures.
However, at least one Kroger location has managed to distribute perishable items after a similar incident, suggesting that commenters who claimed donations were entirely impossible were mistaken.
The Daily Dot also reported that it could not independently confirm the Kroger store's situation or whether the thrown-out items were safe or suitable for donation.
What can be done?
Better planning before emergencies can help.
Grocery chains can strengthen food-recovery partnerships with local food banks and shelters, so workers know exactly what can be donated, how quickly it needs to be handled, and what documentation is required after an outage.
At the same time, food safety has to remain the top priority.
Products that may have been stored at unsafe temperatures cannot be redistributed, no matter how frustrating the waste may look on video.
"What you think doesn't matter. Kroger has a fiduciary responsibility to not expose itself to prosecution and lawsuits," one user tweeted. "This isn't a moral choice. This is the only legal recourse it has. Stop pretending there's an option here."
Ultimately, the argument turned on a narrower issue: whether any shelf-stable items could have been safely separated for donation rather than thrown away.
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